Growth Insights for CEOs

Outsider Insights | You Can't Measure AI ROI If You Can't Measure Marketing ROI
Executive Takeaways
- Most mid-market companies lack the measurement foundation to evaluate AI — or any marketing investment.
- Hours saved, speed to market, and revenue realized are the three key AI ROI markers — baseline required.
- AI amplifies what's working. If measurement is broken, AI won't fix it.
- Real results start with a defined problem and a way to measure it — not the tool.
Outsider Insights
Across Chief Outsiders, we talk to hundreds of CEOs every month. In this series, we explore the trends and challenges we’re hearing from these discussions – and what you can do if you’re facing the same issues in your business.
Recent Posts

Insights in Action: How to Turn Market Data into a Competitive Springboard
Mon, Mar 26, 2018 — If you are one of the many CEOs who spent the last few months reflecting upon your company’s current growth strategies, it is time to push forward. By gathering insights about your competition, brand, and customers, you can create a powerful advantage. In fact, the right information can be a springboard for innovation and growth, as well as an effective way to successfully drive differentiation and brand equity.

Monologues Vs. Dialogues: Four Ways that High-Growth Companies Connect With Their Customers
Fri, Feb 24, 2017 — I’d like to introduce you to the first great marketing philosopher. Way back before Coke was teaching the world to sing, and, about the same time that the guy selling the round wheel cornered the market on transportation, a guy named Zeno of Citium was positing on the very important marketing attribute of listening.

The Three Levels of Listening: Deeper Insights for More Enduring and Effective Sales and Marketing Strategies
Wed, Oct 19, 2016 — No matter how many shiny new products and services emerge every year in an industry, there will always be a few established brand giants waiting at the top of the Mountain of Customer Loyalty, waiting to force the weaker ones into submission.
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Keeping it Real: The Next Four of 10 Reasons Why Your SWOT is Really a SWAG
Mon, Oct 17, 2016 — Let’s keep it real: While myriad technology-driven changes have garnered much of our strategy-related attention and interest over the last several years, the need to evaluate an organization’s fundamental strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is more important than ever.

Let’s Get Real! Three of 10 Reasons Why Your SWOT is Really a SWAG
Mon, Oct 10, 2016 — I once experienced a recurring dream where I stood at the front of Mrs. Streebeck’s fifth grade class, completely unable to speak. “Where is your homework, Mr. Sparrow?” the teacher asked. The shame and guilt of being unprepared caused my throat to tighten and my vocal chords to freeze. It was horrifying. Never mind that in the nightmare I was also fully exposed—buck naked, as we say in the South—but that’s not the point. Even if tucked away in my subconscious, I’ve always been mortified of being unprepared. Most of you reading this post feel the same way – and that’s why you’re here.

What Can Tesla Teach Us About Customer-Focus?
Thu, Oct 6, 2016 — I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a Tesla. Sleek, fast, future-forward – and electric to boot – the unique combination of “smart” and sustainability features on the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 make the car company’s offerings so irresistible to buyers, that Elon Musk and his team have struggled to keep up with demand.

6 Ways Mobile Wallets Can Reshape Your Customer's Experience
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 — This blog elaborates on Richard Browne’s article in CSP Magazine entitled, 'Future-Proofing Your New Site.' The mobile wallet revolution is poised to happen over the next 12 months. Besides the major branded entrants like Square, Google, PayPal and ISIS, there are now over a hundred other mobile wallets announced or in service. The mobile wallet has the potential to reshape your business; here are six benefits that create opportunities for you to improve your customers’ experience.

Their Pain, Your Gain
Sat, Feb 23, 2013 — Some of your best customers would probably like you to do business with them in a different manner. Maybe it’s the day you deliver your goods to them? The minimums required? Maybe it’s the day of the month that you do your billing…or the amount of paperwork that you require of them? Instead of making doing business with you easier, do you sometimes make it a bit more challenging? Successful companies seek out their customers’ pain points and eliminate them. Constantly listening to the signals from the marketplace can help you see the storm clouds gathering, and to develop the strategies necessary to meet them. In order to do that, you really need to dig deep and find out what is bothering them, and how you can go about fixing those things. Define the Pain Point

The Welcomer Edge: The Secrets to Repeat Business
Sun, Feb 10, 2013 — Today's Chief Outsider blog is by guest blogger Diana Kyser McNeff. I recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Richard Shapiro, founder and president of The Center For Client Retention and author of his recently published book “The Welcomer Edge – Unlocking the Secrets to Repeat Business”. Since 1988, Richard has been running The Center For Client Retention (TCFCR) which provides research, training and consulting to Fortune 500 companies on how to improve the customer experience. Before founding TCFCR, Richard held leadership positions at ADP (Automatic Data Processing) in Client Services, Client Satisfaction and Client Retention. At ADP, he developed the idea that when there is a gap between service expectations and delivery, the client relationship is most vulnerable —a customer is most likely to move to a competitor. Richard also credits his experience working in his father’s haberdashery store as a boy as the place where he learned the true value of a customer.